It’s Official, Rand Paul Will Back Kavanaugh

It’s Official, Rand Paul Will Back Kavanaugh

Monday, Sen. Rand Paul announced he would vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Paul was the only Senate Republican to openly discuss his reservations about supporting Kavanaugh (mostly due to his concerns about his favorite amendment and one he’s made a career championing and filibustering on behalf of — the fourth amendment) but promised he’d keep an open mind.

I look forward to the upcoming hearings, reviewing the record, and meeting personally with Judge Kavanaugh, with an open mind.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 10, 2018

Sen. Paul explained why Kavanaugh earned his vote:

After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination. No one will ever completely agree with a nominee (unless of course, you are the nominee). Each nominee however, must be judged on the totality of their views character and opinions.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

I have expressed my concern over Judge Kavanaugh’s record on warrantless bulk collection of data and how that might apply to very important privacy cases before the Supreme Court.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

In reviewing his record on other privacy cases like Jones, and through my conversation with him, I have hope that in light of the new precedent in Carpenter v. United States, Judge Kavanaugh will be more open to a Fourth Amendment that protects digital records and property.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

Of course, my vote is not a single-issue vote, and much of my reading and conversation has been in trying to figure out exactly how good Judge Kavanaugh will be on other issues before the Court.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

My conversation with Judge Kavanaugh reinforces my belief that he will evaluate cases before the Supreme Court from a textual and originalist point of view. I believe he will carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

On issues such as property rights and reining in the administrative state, Judge Kavanaugh has a strong record and showed a deep commitment during our meeting.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

His views on due process and mens rea show a thoughtful approach to the law and its applications. His views on war powers and separation of powers are encouraging.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

Finally, his strong defenses of the First and Second Amendments in landmark cases show someone who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and will fight with backbone. Judge Kavanaugh will have my support and my vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018

You knew he would eventually vote to confirm him. Paul routinely grandstands only to circle back and rejoin the Republican caucus.

New York Magazine nailed it:

But in the case of Paul, it is unlikely that McConnell should be too concerned.

After all, we’ve been here before. Paul made a big show of opposing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s nomination over Pompeo’s warmongering tendencies, vowing to do “whatever it takes” to stop him from being confirmed. But in the end, Paul folded, justifying his “yes” vote with a toothless assurance from Trump that Pompeo agreed with the president that the Iraq War was a mistake, and that the U.S. should withdraw from Afghanistan. (Trump actually supported the Iraq War, and American troops remains in Afghanistan.)

And last summer, Paul complained that the GOP’s “skinny repeal” of Obamacare didn’t go far enough before claiming that the bill counted as a personal win, and voting for its passage after all.

Paul did help kill the Graham-Cassidy version of Obamacare in September before it came to a vote, once again lambasting it as a half measure — though that proposal stood less chance of becoming law than skinny repeal. And he has cast one actual high-profile “no” vote against a Trump nominee: he declined to support Gina Haspel, President Trump’s pick to be CIA director, over her past role in torture.

But neither of those rebellions compare to the prospect of personally torpedoing a Supreme Court nominee who could shift the balance of the court for decades. And Paul has shown that when the chips are down, he is likely to budge.

Later in his Politico interview, the senator mused that despite his concerns, Kavanaugh probably wouldn’t be all that bad.

“Wouldn’t you rather have Kavanaugh than Ruth Bader Ginsburg?” he said. “He’s probably good on economic liberty and overzealous regulation and things like that. So I don’t want to have it sort of in a vacuum, I’ll have to weigh that versus other aspects that he may be a lot better than a Clinton appointee.”

Sen. Paul is as principled as they come, truly, and his decision to support Kavanaugh is illustrative of a mantra the post-Tea Party GOP should adopt — never let the perfect become the enemy of the good. In the political realm (and many places in real life), incremental gains are far better than no progress at all.

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